• VENUS RETROGRADE IN SCORPIO/LIBRA FROM 5TH OCTOBER TO 15TH NOVEMBER 2018

  • What or who might emerge from the depths???

    After a stay in flirtatious Libra, one of its home signs, Venus, the planet of values (what WE value and desire), love and finances, entered the “still waters run deep” sign of Scorpio on the 9th of September this year. Venus usually spends approximately 37 days in each sign but due to its 42-day retrograde period it will actually remain in Scorpio until the 4th of January 2019 (retrograding from 10°53’ Scorpio and backtracking into the sign of Libra where it will station direct at 25°15’ on the 15th of November to re-enter Scorpio on the 3rd of December).

    The main transits involving Venus during this period:

    Venus opposite Uranus: 12th September at 2° (repeating 31st October at 0° and 2nd December at 29°). This could mean intense social excitement or unconventional feelings or, for the emotionally unattached, it could bring in a new lover, or an old one could re-surface, who may be younger or in some way very different from the normal type of partner you attract. If your chart is heavily involved here and you do indeed meet someone like this then I suggest you wait until the whole transit is over before dedicating yourself soul and body to this person because they may not be as they appear! This transit might also suggest unexpected financial upsets or gains if your chart puts the Venus emphasis on your assets rather than your relationships.

    Venus square the Lunar nodal axis: 16th September at 4°. We can only do our best to find a way to work with our need to push ahead sentimentally or financially without holding onto to the past, growth is often accompanied by great discomfort but Venus is a fortunate planet so it shouldn’t be too harsh.

    Venus square Mars: 10th October at 10°. You may find it difficult to be assertive or instead experience passionate reactions during this transit.

    Venus begins her retrograde period as an evening star and ends the retrograde period as a morning star. She is never very far from the Sun and is our nearest planet inward (towards the Sun) after the Moon. The synodic cycle of Venus is one of the most stunning patterns known, forming a beautiful flower shape. Every 8 years Venus retrogrades in similar degrees of the same signs.

    In Scorpio, Venus is in her mythical lover’s den (one of them, the other being in Aries).

    Venus in Scorpio can lend itself to uncanny ways of seduction with psychological abuse and mental cruelty not being unknown here. On the other hand it’s powerfully attractive and very passionate. In Libra we have a more harmonious, graceful lover, elegant but often emotionally remote since indecision often ruins ardour. Venus in Scorpio, as in Aries, is in her detriment where the planet is least at ease in her surroundings.

    So, since Venus deals with values of some kind we might want to acknowledge that these include our self-esteem too. In fact, there is a lovely observation in the book “Planets” edited by Joan McEvers which quotes astrologer Robert Glasscock as stating:

    “The glyph we use for Venus in astrology resembles a hand-mirror”

    continuing “what you value is a reflection of who you are so what we love is a reflection of ourselves”. Isn’t that a lovely way of conveying one of Venus’s meanings?

    What might we expect during this retrograde period when Venus goes under-cover, so as to say?

    Venus retrograde could declare “war” in a subconscious way on our senses and attitudes to love or finances and on the old died-out values that we attach to these matters as well as our opinion of ourselves. The effects of the retrograde period in this sense are less obvious and immediate and usually emerge after the planet has once more turned direct.

    The houses involved in the retrograde transit will be more vulnerable and unprotected once the planet resumes forward motion since they are areas which we often leave unattended to, prior to the retrograde period of the planet.

    A Venus retrograde period:

    exposes those areas of self that are normally concealed from view

    and are often the complete opposite to the behaviours we normally show and this in itself could undoubtedly cause emotional stress for us.

    Thus the Venus retrograde period is an excellent time to contemplate those which are our deepest and most personal creative needs and if the flaws and faults enhanced, and so readily identified in others, are not really ours. A deep introspection into what makes us happy and what may be missing in order for us to be so could be in order.

    It’s also a good time to work on creative projects, heal old heartbreaks and/or take care of unfinished business in order to make room in life for the things that bring us joy.

    During this time old lovers may resurface, physically and mentally! Before welcoming them back with open arms (if they do appear in their physical form) stop and think for a while, especially about the reasons why the story ended in the first place and what role you yourself may have had in this (consciously or not).

    New loves may also begin during this period some of them may even be clandestine since Scorpio does like secrets. Again, use caution, keeping your eyes wide open because at the end of the retrograde period things may not be as they initially seemed…..you may have confused lust with love especially when Venus is retrograding in Scorpio, Libra, one of Venus’s home signs, lends itself to a more conventional type of sentiment.

    To gain a glimpse of what might occur during this retrograde period, think back to eight years ago when Venus was retrograding in Scorpio/Libra in almost the same degrees (October 7th 2010 13°13’ Scorpio to 27°41’ Libra on 18th November 2010).

    What was happening in your life then?

    Sabian symbol for 11° Scorpio: “An official embassy ball.” Indicating group-consciousness, as it flowers at the highest level in cultural interchanges between representatives of the elite of the ruling class.

    For its antiscion at 20° Aquarius: “A large white dove bearing a message.” Indicating the answer of spiritual agencies to thorough, sustained and victorious individual efforts

    For 26° Libra: “An eagle and a large white dove change into each other.” Indicating the interaction of the spiritual Will and of the Love principle when critical needs arise.

    For its antiscion at 5° Pisces: “A church bazaar.” Indicating the value of giving a spiritual or transcendent sanction to even the most commonplace interchanges between social persons and individual minds.

    “Today my forest is dark. The trees are sad and all the butterflies have broken wings.” Raine Cooper

    What are you expecting (if anything) from this Venus retrograde?

    Bibliography

    McEvers J., (1989), Planets, ‘Venus’, p. 129, Llewellyn Publications, St Paul, MN, USA

    Rudhyar D. (1974) “An Astrological Mandala: the cycles of transformations and its 360 symbolic phases”. pp.  188, 198, 261, 271 Vintage Books Edition, Random House Inc., New York, USA

    Sullivan E., (2000), Retrograde Planets, ‘Venus, Dual Goddess’ pp77-114, Samuel Weiser Inc, York Beach, ME USA

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